Library and VLE

1. DEMONSTRATE A CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO PRODUCE AND/OR RESPOND TO WRITING IN THE MODES OF SOCIAL REALISM AND/OR CRIME FICTION

2. CRITICALLY ANALYSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF REALISM

3. PRODUCE CREATIVE AND/OR CRITICAL WORK WHICH SYNTHESISES CLOSE TEXTUAL INTERPRETATION OF LITERATURE CONCERNED WITH CRIME AND/OR SOCIAL ISSUES WITH KNOWLEDGE OF CRITICAL/CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVES

4. EVALUATE CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES WITH CONCEPTUAL AND CRITICAL INSIGHT¿

All students will produce a 1000 word Critical Commentary on

2 scholarly sources. (LO 4)

Students can then choose to produce either:

2500 words (or equivalent) of creative writing. This could be one long piece or up to three shorter pieces. Topic/s to be agreed with the tutor.

OR

Critical essay of 2500 words.
. Topic to be agreed with the tutor. (LO: 1,2,3)

Class time will be split between group discussion of the reference texts, writing exercises, and workshopping. You will study a number of writers / practitioners whose work, in one way or another, falls into the category of social realism and crime writing as a response to social anxieties. You’ll also look at other closely-related forms of literary realism. Over the course of the module, you will produce your own creative and critical work and you will reflect on your reading and writing processes during class. You will also produce a Critical Commentary.

This vibrant creative-critical module introduces you a diverse range of vital historical and contemporary texts exploring key themes surrounding social realism and crime writing exploring social anxieties. Hone your writing and critical skills in a series of fast-paced seminar-workshops and prepare yourself for a career as a working writer by presenting on your own work and influences.

There will be a programme of seminars and/or workshops related to the literary texts, with individual tutorials available to support your own creative/critical writing. One of the principles underlying this module is the belief that the practice of writing and analysis can be assisted by knowledge and understanding of literature, so, the process of critical analysis in the programme of workshops will accompany creative writing, reading and evaluations of student work in the sessions. We will consider a number of literary forms as an aid to students' own writing in the genre of social realism and crime fiction.

Texts might include the following. Please see the VLE for the most up-to-date reading list.

Creative Works

Auster, Paul –¿The New York Trilogy¿

Baal, Ipgenia – Man Hating Psycho

Capote, Truman –¿In Cold Blood¿

Chandler, Raymond –¿The Big Sleep¿

Clark, Eliza – Penance

Halls, Ben – The Quarry

McCoy, Horace –¿They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?¿

Mosley, Walter –¿Devil in a Blue Dress¿



Critical Works



Cassuto, Leonard (2017) ‘Urban American Gothic’, in The Cambridge Companion to American Gothic

Cassuto, Leonard (2012) ‘Raymond Chandler’, in The Cambridge Companion to American Novelists

Morris, Pam (2003). Realism. London: Routledge.

Newland, Courttia et al (2015) Writing Short Stories: A Writers’ and Artists’ Companion. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Owen, Alysoun et al (2021). The Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook 2022. London: Bloomsbury.

Tucker, David (2011). British Social Realism in the Arts Since 1940. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

The Cambridge Companion to American Crime Fiction (2010)

The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction (2003)